What Is Dereck Lively II's Timeline for Foot Injury Return amid Anthony Davis Rumors?

The Dallas Mavericks are losing Dereck Lively II from the lineup just before the potential return of Anthony Davis.

The Mavericks announced Tuesday that Lively will be sidelined for at least the next three games with "swelling and discomfort in his right foot."

Lively will be re-evaluated in about seven to 10 days, according to the Mavs.

The Mavs are set to play Friday at the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday, Saturday at the Los Angeles Clippers Saturday and Monday at the Denver Nuggets.

The team's next home game is scheduled for next Wednesday, Dec. 3 against the visiting Miami Heat.

NBA insider Marc Stein reported earlier Tuesday that it was "feared that the Mavs face an extended injury absence" from Lively, who sat out Monday's loss at the Miami Heat.

Lively, who underwent offseason surgery on his right foot, has played just seven of 19 games this season while dealing with a right knee sprain.

Davis has missed 14 straight games with a calf injury. He is expected to practice Wednesday, according to Stein.

The Mavs will hope Davis' return can help the team rebound from a 5-14 start to the 2025-26 campaign.

This marks the third straight season in which Lively, the No. 12 pick of the 2023 draft, has been significantly limited by injuries.

He played just 36 games last season while dealing with health issues including a stress fracture in his right ankle, which kept him on the sideline for almost three months between January and April.

ESPN's Shams Charania then reported in July that Lively had undergone a procedure "to clean up bone spurs in his right foot."

Mavs head coach Jason Kidd told told reporters Friday that Lively felt he could play more than his 18-minute playing restriction, but that the team was "taking it one step at a time" amid his recovery from surgery.

Amid those limitations, Lively has been contributing just 4.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game in seven appearances and four starts.

The Mavericks have meanwhile slipped down to No. 14 in the Western Conference despite playing the majority of the early season at home.

Those struggles have raised questions as to whether the Mavs would consider trading players including Anthony Davis.

Mavs minority owner Mark Cuban recently said told The Athletic's Joe Vardon team wouldn't trade their star forward because "we want to try to win" with 2025 No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg.

The Athletic's Christian Clark reported last week, however, that team sources indicated "the Mavericks will be opportunistic in pursuing any scenario that strengthens the roster around Flagg while stressing that the team is still in information-gathering mode as it decides on a path forward."

Jake Fischer recently said on a Bleacher Report livestream he isn't expecting the Mavericks to enter the trade market from a "position of weakness," and that he doesn't believe the Mavs will "really consider trading" Lively amid his ongoing injury issues.

How much the Mavs are able to improve once Davis is back in the lineup, as well as Lively's recovery timeline from his latest injury, could influence how the team approaches the February trade deadline.